Having abandoned the show to the Canadian wilderness in recent years, Microsoft is bringing its "X" event back into the limelight in 2010, with a showcase night planned to take place in San Francisco next month.

The last proper "X" event was all the way back in 2006, when Peter Jackson was in attendance promising great things, Microsoft's HD-DVD Drive still had an air of optimism about it and two young game designers shamed us with their dental hygiene standards.

This year's event will be showcasing a range of titles we've already seen (Alan Wake, Crackdown 2, Xbox Game Room and FFXIII) and some games we've already seen, but only fleetingly (Fable III, Halo: Reach & some promised Left 4 Dead 2 "add-ons").

The saddest/funniest part of the night? Splinter Cell: Conviction will be making its second X appearance, having been first announced back at X06 in Barcelona, three and a half years ago.

Advertisement

Microsoft of course promise there'll be more on show when it all kicks off on February 11, but we hear the focus will be on existing titles on the cusp of release, rather than announcing brand new projects.